CITY AID WORKERS HEAFING FOR AFRICAN DROUGHT ZONE

This article is published in today's Leicester Mercury:

City aid workers heading for African drought zone

Two volunteers from Leicester were travelling to East Africa today to distribute food to starving families.

Shabir Sacranie and Harun Lambat will visit El Wak and Wajir, two areas in Kenya that have been badly affected by the worst drought in 60 years.

The pair, who volunteer for Highfields charity Caravan of Mercy, plan to deliver hundreds of food parcels and clean water to families in need.

They are taking £50,000 – raised in just a fortnight, mainly by Leicester's Muslim community via door-to-door collections and bucket collections outside mosques – to spend on the needy.

Father-of-two Mr Sacranie, who is taking time out from running his grocery store in the city to spend 12 days in the crisis zone, said: "People have been really generous – some have given £100, £200 at a time."

The drought affecting Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia has devastated cattle and crops, leaving millions of people starving.

The price of the little food that is available – mainly in richer areas such as the Kenyan capital Nairobi – has soared.

Mr Sacranie and Mr Lambat will be accompanied by a Kenyan charity worker, who will help negotiate a fair price when they are buying food and supplies.

Mr Sacranie said: "We will have to see what the situation is when we get there, but we hope to be able to fill eight to 12 trucks with food and gallons of water."

The 43-year-old travelled to Pakistan to help victims of the floods in 2010, and also volunteered in Kenya four years ago.

He said: "What makes me happy is when you give a food parcel to someone. All the difficulty you have with getting from A to B and driving thousands of miles is worth it when you see people's faces when you hand them some food.

"I really can't describe it, just to see a little smile on their faces."

The charity's contact in Kenya is arranging a police escort to accompany them as it is likely their vehicle will be swamped when they arrive.

The volunteers will also be looking in to the cost of installing hand water pumps during their time in Kenya.

The charity is hoping to return there in mid-August.

Mr Sacranie said: "It all boils down to funds, but hopefully we can raise enough money to go again. We can't feed everybody, but we do our best."

The Leicester Mercury is calling on readers to give what money they can to help save hundreds of thousands of children facing starvation on the Horn of Africa.

Since we launched our appeal with UNICEF on Monday, a state of famine has been declared in parts of Somalia by the United Nations.

Half-a-million under fives are suffering from life-threatening malnutrition.

UNICEF will use the donations to buy food, medical aid and clean water.

To donate to our East Africa appeal fill in the form below, call 0800 316 5353 or go to: www.unicef.org.uk/leicester